Pete Wicks finally discussed his feelings for Maura Higgins in an emotional interview on Paul C Brunson's We Need To Talk podcast.
The former TOWIE star, 37, become incredibly emotional throughout their chat as he opened up about his childhood trauma and his mother Tracy's suicide attempt when he was 12-years-old, admitting he 'never felt good enough'.
Confessing that his relationship with Maura has become more serious recently, Pete said: 'We spend more time with each other than we did before.'
Pete, who started dating Maura last August, added: 'Maura and I have known each other for a long time now, about six years. We have the same sense of humour, she's super intelligent and I think that is sometimes what people don't realise about Maura.
'She's incredibly witty and we have always been there for each other in the past six years at a distance where we have always kind of been friends and been there for each other and whatever else. And that I mean is different now.
'We spend more time with each other than we did before. I think she's an incredible person, she was incredibly supportive to me when I was in Strictly and as I did to her when she was in the jungle.
Pete Wicks, 37, finally discussed his feelings for Maura Higgins in an emotional interview on Paul C Brunson's We Need To Talk podcast
Describing Maura as 'super intelligent' and 'incredibly witty', Pete finally spoke about their whirlwind romance after they started dating last August (pictured together in May 2024)
Confessing that his relationship with Maura has become more serious recently, Pete said: ' We spend more time with each other than we did before' (Maura pictured on I'm A Celeb)
'She's a great person so my relationship with her is that I think she's a great person and I hope that she would think that I'm alright.'
'Are you great together?', Paul asked.
Pete joked: 'Oh I see where we are going with this Paul, it is very very nicely done. The thing is with me and Maura is, like I said, we have known each other for a long time and we have never kind of not got on.
'We do spend more time together now than we have done before and as a person and you'll know having met her.
'When people are around me and Maura it is quite fun. There is so many similarities, she is a great person to spend time with and yeah we do spend time together.'
He added: 'I'm at a different stage in my life now where the points that always made me known which was always my relationship or the drama and the reality background is not something that I am really doing anymore.
'The reason I say that and I'm very thankful to all of the things I've done before that but now is the private me and the more vulnerable me is that I'm putting out one version of me which is why I need to protect that.
'I no longer feel the need to have to give everyone that.'
'When people are around me and Maura it is quite fun. There is so many similarities, she is a great person to spend time with and yeah we do spend time together', Pete said
He added: 'I'm at a different stage in my life now where the points that always made me known which was always my relationship or the drama and the reality background is not something that I am really doing anymore'
He continued: 'The reason I say that and I'm very thankful to all of the things I've done before that but now is the private me and the more vulnerable me is that I'm putting out one version of me which is why I need to protect that'
The former TOWIE star become incredibly emotional throughout their chat as he opened up about his childhood trauma and his mother's suicide attempt when he was 12-years-old, admitting he 'never felt good enough'
Speaking about his childhood trauma, Pete was overcome with emotion as he described the affect his mother's suicide attempt had on him.
He said: 'I felt like I was responsible, I didn't feel like enough. I didn't feel like me being there was enough for her to want to be there.
'They were together since kids but she found it very very tough and my mum struggled with depression and alcoholism and it got too much for her. She tried to take her own life one night and I found her. That was tough.
'I felt like I was responsible, I didn't feel like enough. I didn't feel like me being there was enough for her to want to be there and I did feel responsible the circumstances around how it happened, I could have stopped it.
'I knew, despite being that young, that she was drinking and not in a good place, she was very upset the night that it happened.
'She told me she was going to be fine and I went to my room and I could hear her crying and I stayed in that room and if I hadn't of stayed [in my room], then maybe I could have stopped it. It was a tough time.'
He added: 'I never felt unloved but I just never felt that I was enough. It's not that I didn't feel loved by my mum or dad I just felt like I was in the way. They had their own struggles at the time and I felt like an afterthought.'
Later on in the episode, Pete said he realised he needed to get help before thing's 'got bad' after loosing his beloved nan Doreen.
He said: 'When I lost my nan I realised I needed help. And I still don't know what that is but I've accepted that fact that I need something because otherwise thing's are going to get bad.'
Asking Pete why he feels like he needs help, Pete replied: 'Because, I have never felt so alone. I think I spend a lot of my life surrounded by people but that does not mean you are not lonely.
'The one thing that I can rely on and was a safety net was my nan. And then when that's pulled from underneath of you, I just laid on the bed floor and it just made me think that even the reliance I had on her with being my safety net, I have to be my own safety net at some point but also I have to allow other people to help me.
'Initially when she died I went into shut down. I don't think that I have grieved the process still because I shut down because I needed too.
'Even over the past couple months I am probably sad than I ever have been about it but that's because I've started to open up rather than shutting down.
'It's tough because people lose grandparents and one thing I hate is pitting parties about things. It's not the worst thing in the world to happen to anyone but it's the worst thing in the world that has every happened to me.
'I don't think I have grieved or processed it properly but I have started to now, three years on and that's a very weird feeling. But that's because I am in a better position now to be able to deal with it. Now I am stronger than I was then.'
